Daily Tips
Daily Tips are pieces of advice given by Ring Fit Adventure. Tips Q: Tell me more about fruits and vegetables! A: They can provide many nutrients! You can get many essential vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables. However, some nutrients are rarer or harder to get from plant-based foods. These include protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and vitamin B12. Make sure to eat a balanced diet with a variety of foods, and consult your doctor if you have questions about your diet. Q: What can I do to keep fit? A: Lots of things! Exercise is good of course. Some other things to try include getting adequate sleep, practicing deep breathing, adding short stretch breaks throughout your day, going for walks, and even engaging in stress-relieving hobbies! A balanced eating plan, regular physical activity, and stress relief may help you to feel your best. Q: I'm worried that I'll get too muscular. A: It won't happen accidentally. You want to tone up your body, but you're not interested in a bodybuilder physique--does that describe you? If so, you can rest easy. Standard weight training with a light load won't result in bulging muscles easily. Bodybuilders' bodies are the result of very hard training combined with careful management by professionals over a long period of time. Q: I can't move the way the examples show me! A: Listen to your body! Sometimes you can't quite train in the exact way the examples demonstrate--it can be hard to keep your balance or hold a pose, for example. Fitness ability is different for everyone, so it's natural that there are some things you might not be able to do. Just exercise within the range of your ability, and don't over exert yourself Please consult a doctor if you have questions about any particular exercise. Q: I will absolutely train every day! A: Make sure not to overdo it! It's good to make exercising a habit, but making it a hard-and-fast rule to train absolutely every day might be discouraging. Your results won't vanish even after several days, so you can miss a day here and there. Whats important isn't training without fail but focusing on your overall well-being. Q: Why is sleep so important? A: It helps in an amazing number of ways! Regular, quality sleep gives your body and brain time to recover from the day's activities. A good night's rest can help you feel more alert. Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep per night. Q: What are the basic types of exercise? A: Aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility! Aerobic exercise increases your heart and respiratory rates, which can help improve your overall fitness. * Examples: Running, swimming Strength training works your muscles and can help make them stronger. * Examples: Weight lifting, resistance exercises Balance exercises can help you avoid falls. * Examples: Tai chi, certain yoga poses Flexibility exercises can help you stay limber. * Examples: Yoga, stretching Q: If you don't use your muscles, do they turn into fat? A: Nope! The idea that "unused muscle turns into fat" seems to be a common misunderstanding. Muscle and fat, however, are completely different things, and muscle cannot turn into fat (or vice versa). If you don't use your muscles, they will simply get smaller. Losing muscle may lower your metabolism. This phenomenon is probably where the misunderstanding comes from. Q: Should I train when my body feels bad? A: Please don't! Rest instead! You're devoted to your training and don't want to miss a day because you're not feeling well. We get that, but it is important to rest and take a break when you are not feeling your best. You won't lose the results of your training if you take a break for a while. Come back to training once you are feeling better and recovered. Consult a doctor if you have questions whether you're well enough to exercise. Q: What defines dynamic stretching? A: Stretches that move your body! When you think of stretching, you probably think of someone holding a particular pose for a long time, usually with an arm or leg in a strange position. That kind of stretching is called static stretching, because you hold yourself in stasis to do it. In dynamic stretching, however, you keep moving your body throughout the stretch. Dynamic stretching is best done before training as a warm-up to help prevent injuries. Always make sure you use proper form and never stretch to the point of pain. Q: Is there any reason to stretch after exercising? A: To cool down your body! After training, you should use stretches to cool down. We recommend static stretches that extend your muscles to hold them. These can help ease stiff muscles and regulate your breathing. Always make sure you use proper form and never stretch to the point of pain. In addition, stretching after exercise may prevent muscle soreness later. Please take some time to stretch until your mind and body settle down, OK? Q: Should I be stretching until it hurts? A: No, don't stretch so far! You may have heard that pain means gain, but that's not always true! If you overstretch and feel pain, your muscles could constrict and tighten. The point of stretching is to loosen and relax your muscles. So take it easy when stretching, and try to stretch within a comfortable range. Q: Should I do the exercises in a certain order? A: You may want to start with the lower body! Most can do exercises in any order, but you might find it's easier to start with your lower body. Many consider the lower-body exercises to be more strenuous, so you may want to start with those, then move on to upper-body exercises if you find yourself becoming tired before finishing your workout. Just make sure not to overdo it! Please consult your doctor if you are having difficulty with certain exercises. Q: What should be my training target? A: Think about what you want to do. Are you setting vague goals, like "I want to be fitter"? That's fine, but instead of focusing on "the way I want to be," why not identify a specific activity you want to do? For example, if your goal is to complete a 5K, you could focus on exercises to help with your stamina. Having a defined goal can help you choose the appropriate training for it. Q: Tell me about zinc! A: Your body uses zinc in lots of different ways! Zinc exists throughout the body and is used in cell division, cell growth, and healing. Zinc is also needed for the senses of smell and taste. Animal proteins in general are good sources of zinc. Other sources include nuts, whole grains, legumes, and yeast. Q: Is there benefit to muscle training for older people? A: Absolutely! Training can be appropriate for people of any age. Whether you're in your 60s, 70s, or beyond, older people who do weight training may improve their overall fitness and stay more active. Just remember to exercise within the range of your ability, and don't overexert yourself. Consult a doctor if you have questions about whether exercise is right for you. Q: It's had to get motivated when I don't feel an effect. A: Change up your training routine! If you're always doing the same training, your body will get used to the same movements, sometimes called a "plateau". When you reach this stage, it helps to change things up, like increasing your reps or difficulty temporarily, to give your body new stimulus. Or you could change what part of your body you're training. Mix up your daily training routine to keep things interesting! Q: What are the "core muscles"? A: The muscles that support the core of your body! In this game, the core (or trunk) of the body refers to the torso, so the muscles in the torso are called "core muscles". This is a collective term referring to a number of muscles in the chest, stomach, back, and buttocks. Strengthening your core muscles can help improve posture, which may decrease lower-back and shoulder stiffness. Strengthening your core muscles may also help you move your body more easily during exercise. Q: I can eat as many vegetables as I want, right? A: Always eat foods in moderation. You can eat as many vegetables as you want because they're low in calories...right? Turns out some veggies--like potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkin, and tomatoes--have a higher sugar content than others. Vegetables that are rich in fiber, such as spinach, cabbage, lettuce, and other leafy greens may be healthier choices. Q: What actually IS a calorie? A: It's the energy contained in food. Strictly speaking, a "calorie" (kcal) is a unit of energy, but the term is often used to refer to the energy itself contained in food. The human body uses the energy (calories) absorbed from food in a number of different ways, such as regulating temperature, building tissue, and operating muscles and internal organs. In other words, it's the energy people need in order to live. Q: What's so great about whole grains? A: Fiber and other nutrients! Whole grains (as opposed to refined grains) are seeds that are eaten with all the parts of the seed (including the bran, the germ, and the endosperm). Despite their name, whole grains also include grains that are ground into flour, as long as they were ground with all the parts of the seed! Refined grains have had the germ and bran removed, which also removes much of the fiber content and other nutrients like B vitamins, iron, selenium, potassium, and magnesium. Q: Is it OK to train barefoot? A: It depends... Always make sure that you are training on a flat, nonslip surface and that you have proper foot support for the exercises you're doing. Some people may be fine training barefoot, but others may want to wear shoes. Check with your doctor if you're not sure. Q: Will squats make my legs look bigger? A: Probably not. Unless you're doing squats while holding heavy weights, your legs won't get thicker easily. However, squats do use muscles in your legs and buttocks, so you may see some differences in the overall appearance of your lower body. Q: What is reverse abdominal breathing? A: Pull in your belly when you inhale! When breathing abdominally, does your belly expand or does it contract? Normally it should expand as it fills with air. Reverse abdominal breathing is consciously doing the opposite, and contracting your belly as you breathe in and expanding it when you breathe out. Try it out--surprisingly tricky, isn't it? Q: Will I lose my training results if I take a break? A: Not necessarily! It takes a while of not using your muscles for them to go back to how they were before training. Small gaps in training are no problem at all. It depends on how you train, but muscles start to return to how they were after more than 10 days of rest. Q: Tell me about fiber! A: It aids in digestion! Fiber helps your digestion by promoting the movement of material through your digestive system. Insoluble fiber is found in wheat bran, vegetables, and whole grains. Soluble fiber is found in oat bran, barley, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, peas, and some fruits and vegetables. Q: Tell me about magnesium! A: The body needs it for a number of reasons. Magnesium is required for many different chemical reactions in the body, from nerve and brain functions to immune support. It's found primarily in vegetables, especially the dark green, leafy types. It can also be found in some fruits, nuts, legumes, soy products, whole grains, and milk. Q: Tell me about vitamin B12! A: It may help the brain and nervous system! Vitamin B12 is similar to the other B vitamins and helps your body use protein. Vitamin B12 is also important to the production of red blood cells and the maintenance of your central nervous system. Animal proteins are the readiest sources of B12, especially organ meats and shellfish. Plant-based foods generally have to be fortified with it to be useful sources of B12. Q: Tell me about folic acid! A: It may help tissues grow and cells work! Folic acid (also called folate or vitamin B9) may help tissues frow, red blood cells form and DNA get produced. It may also work with vitamin B12 and vitamin C to help the body use, create, and break down proteins. It occurs naturally in dark green leafy vegetables, dried legumes, and citrus fruits. It is also often found in fortified breads, cereals, pastas, and other enriched-grain products. Q: What is aerobic activity? A: Exercise that raises your heart rate! Aerobic activity uses large muscle groups (typically your chest, legs, and back) to increase your heart rate, which improves your endurance and cardiovascular health. Try one of these activities or others you might enjoy: * Brisk walking or jogging * Swimming * Bicycling (always wear a helmet!) * Playing sports like basketball or soccer Q: What are some whole grains? A: There's a bunch! There are probably more edible grains than you realize, so if you're looking for some variety, here are some of the options available: amaranth, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, sorghum, spelt, teff, wheat, and wild rice. They each have a different flavor, so give them a try! Q: Tell me about vitamin A! A: Vitamin A may help to maintain teeth, bones, and vision. Vitamin A (also called retinol) may help maintain your teeth, bones, and various soft tissues. It may also support your vision. It's found in cod-liver oil, eggs, fortified breakfast cereals, fortified skim milk, and orange and yellow fruits and vegetables. Q: What foods contain protein? A: Proteins can be found in a variety of foods! It is important to eat a variety of foods to give your body the nourishment it needs. Foods such as eggs, fish, dairy products such as cheese, and soybean products like tofu are all good sources of protein, but consult a doctor if you have questions about your diet. Category:Features